Candle pull socket



Oct. 16, 1934. c. E. AVERY lCANDLE PULL SOCKET 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed June 23, 1928 Il s- Oct. 16, 1934. c. E. AVERY CANDLE PULL SOCKET Filed June 23, 19.28 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 M EEEY A.

Patented Oct. 16, 1934 g UNITED STATES PATENT ori-TCE Harvey Hubbell,

Incorporated, Bridgeport,

Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application June 23, 1928, Serial No.. 287,689

9 Claims.

This invention relates to a candle pull socket, and has for an object to provide a device of this type involving an improved construction and new arrangement of the insulating supporting member whereby it is easier to manufacture, and on which it is also easier to assemble the various elements of the switch mechanism and other elements of the device.

It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved means for mounting the switch mechanism.

It is a further object of the invention to pro- Vide a construction in which tubular enclosing shells of different lengths may be employed on the same socket construction.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a socket construction in which improved mounting means therefor may be employed, and it is 'another object of the invention to provide an improved limit stop 'for the flexible switch operating means which will prevent pulling of the flexible means from the connection should undue strain be applied thereto after its movement has been arrested.y A

With the above and other objects in View, the invention consists in certain novel featuresof construction combinations and arrangements lof parts as will be more fully described, constructions illustrating 'two different varrangements of the invention being shown in the accompanying drawings. v

In these drawings,

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the enclosing elements of a candle pull socket but showing a front velevation of the .switch .mechanism and the elements associated therewith.

Fig.v 2 is a side elevation looking from the left of Fig. 1 with the enclosing elements removed.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation looking from the left of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a vertical central section.

Fig. 5 is a transverse section substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a transverse section substantially on line 6-6 of Fig. 4.

Fig. '7 is a detail section showing the use of a single long bre candle shell. l

Fig. 8 is a detail section substantially'on line 8 8 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a View similar to Fig. 1 but showing the preferred arrangement where the insulating body member is made of vbakelite or similar material rather than porcelain. I f.

Fig. 10 is a vertical section through this body member substantially on line 10-10 of Fig. 9.'

Fig. 13 is a front elevation of the contacts of 6G f the switch mechanism showing how they are mounted on the insulating body.

Fig. 14 is a perspective View of the portion of the insulating body shown in Fig. 13 but'r with the movableswitch element removed,;and. Y A

Fig. 15 shows a front and'side` elevation of the movable switch element. f

The construction shown comprises an insulat ing body member 16 of suitable insulating material, such as porcelain, and as will be apparent from the drawings it is of substantially inverted L-shape with the transverse portion 17 at the top thereof. By this arrangement. the insulating block portion of the socket may be made in one piece, and the space at the open inner/side be,- tween the -two portions gives plentyof room for the switch mechanism and the connections for .the lead wires, leaving the outer or back portion of the body clear for an adjustable mounting means for the body. This arrangement also facilitates assembly, inspection and repair of the various elements and devices and these parts are all A,exposed and are. easily accessible. Y

At theupper side of the transverse portion 1'7 l are mounted the central lamp contact 18 .and 85 the screw shell contact 1 9 to receive any standard lamp 2O andengage the` central lamp contact and the screw shell contact respectively. The screw shell 19 has an inwardly extending flange 21 by means of which it is secured to the end of 9G the body by a screw 22 and an eyelet or rivet 2 3. The screw 22 is mounted in a longitudinally extending recess or channel 24 opening through the rear wall of the body 16 while the rivet 23 is in a recess or channel 2 5 in the front side of the por 95 tion 17. By providing these channels instead of openings the molding dies for the body and the operation of moldingiit is greatly simplified, and it is not necessary. to have the longitudinally movable pins which would be required if openings,

were used.

On the front or ilattened sidek of the upright portion of the body are formed inclined walls arrangedas circular segments shown more clearly.

at 26 and 27, in Figs. 13 and 14, and they are 105 separated by vertical Vwalls28. It will, therefore,y

be; apparent that these walls are inclined so as to extend yfrom the' bottom of one wall 28'to the topl of the next wall., The central lamp contact 18;

is. extendedthrough an opening in the trarisverse4 110 contact has a binding post screw 33 for connec` tion with a lead Wire 34 from the house wiring SySl. %I-

tem. The other lead wire 35 is connected to a binding post screw 36 mounted on aconducting member 37 secured to the ybody by a rivet38...

This member extends backwardlythrough an opening in the body and has a tapped opening' for threaded engagement with the screw 22 for v securing the screw shell 19-'-to-the bodyf `lThe screw 22, therefore, not only assists in mountingthe screw shell on the body but it also forms an electrical connection between thisY screw shell andthe conductor 37.

`Intlie front Wall of the upright vportion offthe body and surrounded bythe segmental walls. 26 and 27, is a recess or socket `39to receive the inner: end of a pivot pinY or postAO, and in the bottom of this socket is a springV 41 tending to forceY this postoutwardly. .The outer or free end .-.of this post is held by a supportv 42 which is secured to the bodyvby suitable screws 43 ex-v tending', transversely through the body. It is preferred that the head of the post be non-circular and thatV a similarly shaped .recess beprovided inthe support 42 soV that the post will be held against rotation.. Mounted to turn on this postk is Vamovable switch member 44 ofv sheet metal shown more clearly in Fig. 15 andl it has wipingvcontacts 45 'which are adapted to move about-the post and alternately engage the inclined surfaces 27 and the stationary contacts 29 and 3l to 'bridge the same. The body portion of this movable contact has outwardly extending lugs: 46 facing in opposite directions on opposite sides ofthe post'and adapted to engage side walls of openings- 47 inan. oscillating operating member 48. This operating.memberVis-preferably av -plate of pressed fibreso that it isl of insulating material and it is pivoted4 on the`post-40. The openeY ings-47 are so arranged'that the walls off'diametc ricallyiopposite openingswill alternately engage Vother end extends into-an openingV in the oper-y ating member 48. This spring, therefore, tends to rotate this operating member in one direction,- which is'clockwise as viewed in Fig. 1, andlitalso tends to slide the operating member48 and movable switchm'ember l44r inwardly or to the-left along the post 40, as viewed in Fig. 4,'tof hold this movable contact against -the stationary contacts 29 and-31' or the walls 27. It will be obvious ,A tha-tas the rear ends of the wiping lfeet 45 of the' movable switch-rmember pass off the rear ends of the stationary contacts 29 and 31"they will be forced'inwardly to the bottoms -of the'vertical l separating wallsor'shoulders 281 by the `action of:

the sprin`g`-49 and lwill cause a swift break, obviatingftheliability ofarcing when the circuit is' f hickeyor support t66.

opened. It will be noted that as the post 40 is mounted directly at one end in the insulating body and at the other end on a support 42 which is independently secured to the body without connection to other elements, the post is fully insulated and the usual insulating means between the contacts and the pivot post is not required, thus greatly simplifyingthe construction. ,If it is desired to increase the tension of the spring 49 "a screw driver may be inserted through the opening in the support 42 into a transverse slot 51 in the head of this post, and by forcing the post inwardly against the spring 41 to remove the noncircular head of .the post from the similarly shaped recess'in the support the post may be rotated to tighten the tension of the spring 49.

Secured to the opening member 48 is a hook or connecter 52 and-it is connected to this operating member above and to one side of its pivot post 40, and its connection to the member is a pivotal connection. -At itsfree end lthis connecter has a socket 53 to receive the end ball 54 of a flex.-v ible ball chain 55, Vand vto .facilitate connectionof the chain this socket is slit at one side,fas shown at 56, vto permitV passageof the. connecter 57 betweenthe end-ball of ,the-chain. and the next adjacent ball. The. chain.v depends downwardly from this connecter and passes through upper and lowerguides 58rv and 59 respectivelyl carried*l on a support 60 which is secured vto the body member 16 by any suitable means, such as an eyeletfor rivet 61. The guides 58 Yandv59 are formed in laterallyextending portions yo'f'this support 60, and. besides guiding thechain they .form limit stops to limit movementsfof the chain inopposite directions. .For this purpose the upper guide 58 engages the socket 53 ofthe connecter to limit downward movement of thechain while the lower guide'59. engages an enlarged ball of the chain or an enlarged connecter 62y to limit upward movementof the chain, and therefore, prevent opera,- tion of the switch operating member 48 beyond certain limits. The upper guide 58 may-.have a tapered inlet 63 to receiveV the taperedlower'end of the socket `53, as indicated in` Fig. 7. -When thechain has :been pulled ldown to `thelrnit of. its movement Ytooperate theswitch, thepoaction of these tapered Walls vwill tend to press'the Vsides of the socket 53againstthe ball 5.4and thus preies ventthese side-walls spreadingand permitting the ball to be drawn from the socket should the operator continue to pull on the :chain with undue force- ,f Y.

These-candle sockets are ordinarily mounted on fixtures which include 1,-aco'nduitV yenclosing the lead wires 34 and-35; Theend of thisconduit is `shown at 64y and-is threaded forfthreadedV engagementwith the tapp'ed'end portion` 65 Vof the, This end portion may have an extension 67 carrying a set screw 68 to engage. f. I

the end of the conduit vand prevent rthe hickey workingfloose Aon the conduit. These devicesalso ordinarily have a cupped member 69 which seatsv on a shoulder :70 on'ithe conduit andto which it is held by the hickey. The particular hickey shown is .an improvement -overthe old forms of hickeys. It includes la'.nupri'ghtiforked'portion 71 thus providinga longitudinal-slot72 to receive the tapered head of a clamping screw 73.y This up rightforked portion extends longitudinally of the l. blocks or body members.

mounted between' the inner end of the member and the conducting member 37. This yoke is a metal plate curved to t the curves of the body and is seated in a recess 77 therein, and its opposite ends are bent outwardly to form guide flanges 78 to engage the opposite sides of the upright portion 71 of the support, as shown in Figs'. 2 and 3. It will be apparent that-as thescrew 73 is tightened its tapering head will clamp against the opposite sides of the support 7l and will tend to separate these side portions. This, however, will be prevented by the guide flanges 78 so that the screw will have a rigid clamping action with the support 71 andwill rigidly hold the body of the socket in any adjusted position. It will be obvious that by loosening the screw 73 the socket structure may be moved up or down and clamped in adjusted position to give a long or short candle effect.

These candle sockets when in use are enclosed in tubular candle shells or casings. There are two general types of these shells commonly used, one made of glass and the other of fibre, and when in position they enclose the various electrical elements of the sockets and rest at their lower ends on the cupped member 69. In Fig. l, I have shown a glass tubular casing 79, and where a glass casing is used a bre or paper lining 80 is used between this casing and the electrical elements. To hold this lining in proper position an outwardly extending lug 81 is provided on the body member, and in the present construction it may be conveniently formed as a part of the' support 60. When the glass candle is used this lug pro-- jects outwardly to support the lining 80 which rests at its lower end on this lug, and then the whole thing is enclosed Within the glass candle or casing 79. If, however, a bre candle or casing is used this paper lining is unnecessary, but the casing should extend down to the cup 69. To accommodate this type of casing the lug 8l may be bent inwardly, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, when the bre casing 82, which is of practically the same diameter as the lining of the first form, may be forced down over the device and rest at its lower end in the cup 69. In the old type of candle socket construction the lower insulating block was formed with a molded shoulder, and it will, therefore, be apparent that the socket was not adapted for use with both a glass candle 'casing and a libre candle casing, so that an insulating block which was adapted for use with one type of casing was not adapted for use with the other type, necessitating the manufacture of two different types of In the present construction, however, the same body member may be used for both types of casings, and the socket structure when installed may be used with either type.

In the form of the device shown in Figs. 9 to 12 the elements have been arranged for use with a body member of a phenolic condensation product which is used for smaller sizes of candles. The switch mechanism and the arrangement of the screw and central lamp contact are the same in this form as in the rst form. However, due to greater strength of the bakelite or similar material over that of porcelain the guide for the chain 55 may be molded into the body member. This is shown in Fig. 9 and comprises a channel 83 molded in the body member and having at its lower end a guide opening 84 in line with this chain for passage of the chain. The upper and lower ends of this channel guide form limit stops 1 for the chain the same as do the guides 58 and 59 of the first form, and theupper end 85 of the guide channel engages the tapered end of the socket 53 to prevent the sidewalls thereof separating under strain of the chain the same as in the iirst form. f

Also due to the greater strength of this material for the body member the guide or yoke member 76 used in the rst form for the upright support is not necessary. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 1l, the rear wall of this body is provided with a longitudinally extending recess 86 for this support 71 and the side walls of this recess engage the side edges of this support, and these walls of the body have suicient strength toprevent separation of the side portions of the support under action of the clamping screws 73.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the insulating support for the various elements of the socket and switch is made in one piece, and that the substantially inverted L-shape given to this member provides an ample space on the flattened or inner side of this member for mounting the various switch elements and associated members, leaving the back or rear wall of the body member entirely free for the adjustable support. Therefore, this adjustable support may be extended throughout substantially the entire length of the body permitting of a much greater range of adjustment than could be secure-din the old constructions. Still further, in this construction and arrangement all of the elements of the switch mechanism are exposed and easily accessible, vgreatly facilitating the assembly of the various elements and the making of the connections to the lead Wires. Y

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a candle pull socket, a substantially semicylindrical body member of insulating material, a support on the outer curved side for mounting the body and extending longitudinally thereof, means Vfor securing the body to the support for longitudinal adjustment thereon, lamp socket contacts mounted on one end of said member, and switch mechanism mounted on the flat side 120 of said body and having means for electrical connection with the lamp socket contacts. v

2. In a candle pull socket, a substantially L- shaped insulating body member, switch mechanism mounted on the open inner side of said 125 member and entirely supported thereby and movable as a unit therewith, a'support for said member, lamp socket contacts mounted on the cross portion of said body member at the outer side thereof and electrically connected with the switch mechanism and means for securing the support to a xture.

3. In a candle pull socket, a substantially L- shaped insulating body member, switch mechanism mounted on the open inner side thereof, a 1351 support for said member secured to the outer side thereof, screw shell and central lamp socket contacts mounted on the cross portion of the body member at the outer side of said member and electrically connected with the switch mecha- 140 nism, and means for securing the support to a xture conduit.

4. In a candle pull socket, a longitudinally extending substantially semi-cylindrical insulating body member, switch mechanism mounted on the 1451j flat side thereof including a rotary switch member, a central pivot post for said switch member mounted at one end in the body member, an outboard support for the post, a switch operating member mounted on said post, stationary switch i50- contacts mounted on the body member to cooperate with the movable switch member, central and screw shell lamp socket contacts mounted at one end of the bodymember, a connection from one of said lamp contacts to one of the stationary switch contacts, means for connecting a lead wire to the other stationary switch contact, means for connecting a lead to the other lamp contact, and means for mounting the body member on a xture.

' 5. In a candle pull socket, a substantially semicylindrical insulating body member, switch mechanism mounted on the at side thereof and carried thereby and bodily movable as a unit therewith, said switch mechanism including a central pivot post mounted at one end in the body and extending therefrom, aV movable switch member mounted to turn on said post, a switch operating member mounted on said post, stationary contacts mounted on the body in position to be bridgedfby said switch member, and means for operating the switch operating member, 6. In a Acandle pull. socket, a substantially L- shaped insulating body member, switch'mechanism mounted onthe inner side of the upright portion of said member including a pair of stationary contacts and a movable switch member adapted to bridge said contacts, a pair vof binding screws mounted below Said switch mechanism, central and,A screw shell lamp socket contacts mounted on the cross portion of said body member, electrical connections from-said lamp socket contacts to one of the stationary switch contacts and one of the binding screws respectively, and an electrical connection from the other binding screwto the other stationary contact. Y

7. In a candle pull socket, an insulating body member, switch mechanism mounted `on said member including an oscillating member, acconnecting member mounted on the oscillating member provided wthan open ended socket having a slit side wall, a flexible chain having an end ball in said socket, and a guide for the chain arranged to engage the socket at opposite sides of its slit to limit movement of the chain and at the same time hold .the side walls of the socket against spreading Vlate-rally under action of the 8. In a candle pull socket, an insulating ibody member substantially inverted L-shape, switch mechanism mounted on the open inner side thereof, binding post screws mounted below the switch mechanism, central'v and screw shell vcontacts mounted on the outer end of the cross portion of the body member, said body having a longitudinal channel in its outer wall, means in said channel for securing the shell tothe body and forming an electrical connection from said shell to one of the binding posts, said body having another channel opening through the opposite side of the cross portion, and a secondvsecuring means for said shell in said channel. s

9. In a candle pull socket, an insulating body member of substantially inverted L-shape, cenvsu tral and screw shell lamp socket contacts mounted on the outer side of the cross portion of the body, switch mechanism and lead wire connecting means mounted on the inner side of the upright portion, suitableelectrical connections between the socket contacts, the switch mechanism'and said lead wire connecting means, and supporting means for the body member at the outer side of said upright portion.

f CHARLES E. AVERY. ,f 

